Fractus Team Nominated for European Inventor Award by the EPO

Innovations in Multilevel and Space-Filling Antennas Earn
Recognition from the European Patent Office

April 29, 2014 04:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time

BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fractus, S.A. today announced a team of its inventors has been nominated
as a finalist for the European Inventor Award 2014 by the European
Patent Office (EPO). The nomination, for exceptional inventions in the
category of small and medium-sized enterprises, is based upon the team’s
innovative development of antenna technology for mobile communications.

Among its more than 150 patents and patent applications, Fractus was
granted the world's first patent for Multilevel Antenna technology (European
patent EP1223637) and Space-filling Antenna technology (EP1258054)
in 2005, and a patent for Dual-band Dual-polarized Antenna Arrays (EP1380069)
in 2007. The EPO nomination is based upon these three innovations,
developed by Drs. Carles Puente Baliarda, Carmen Borja Borau, Jaume
Anguera Pros, Jordi Soler Castany and Edouard Rozan.

“We’re honoured to be acknowledged by the EPO,” said Dr. Puente
Baliarda, co-founder and Chief Scientist at Fractus. ”Our team is proud
of the success of our technology which has been adopted by the vast
majority of cell phones and smart phones worldwide. If, as the EPO
states, our efforts help ‘improve people's daily lives,’ then we feel
doubly rewarded in our work.”

Internal multilevel and space-filling antenna technologies created by
Fractus are important components in cell phones, tablets, laptops,
navigation devices and other wireless portable devices, allowing the
development of smaller handsets and the capability to accommodate the
latest multimedia features and high speed internet connectivity. These
innovations have been licensed by Fractus to cell phone manufacturers
including companies such as LG, HTC and Motorola. “At a time when a
multitude of players in consumer electronics is laying claim to valuable
wireless technologies, it is gratifying to be recognized as an innovator
in the industry by a leader in the global patent system,” said Rubén
Bonet, President and CEO of Fractus.

The European Inventor Award was launched by the EPO in 2006 as the
first-ever European prize to distinguish inventors who have made an
outstanding contribution to innovation, economy and society. The Award
has become one of the most popular and prestigious distinctions for
inventors worldwide. For 2014, a jury comprising internationally
renowned figures from politics, business and academia has nominated 15
outstanding inventions in five categories. The winners of this
prestigious prize will be announced on 17 June 2014 in Berlin, at a
ceremony to be opened by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Fractus is an early pioneer in developing internal antennas for cellular
phones, tablets and other devices. In 1995, Fractus CTO Dr. Carles
Puente filed the world’s first application for a patent on fractal
antennas for mobile telecommunications. Four years later, in 1999,
Fractus was born. The company set out to meet the challenge of
delivering antennas small enough to fit inside a cell phone yet powerful
enough to support today’s multiband phones. Today, Fractus holds an
intellectual property rights portfolio of more than 50 inventions
protected through over 150 patents and patent applications in the United
States, Europe and Asia, and has shipped more than 35 million antennas
worldwide. Among the numerous awards and honors the company has received
for its innovative work, Fractus was named a 2005 Davos World Economic
Forum Technology Pioneer and one of Red Herring’s top innovative
companies for 2006. It also won the 2004 Frost & Sullivan Award for
technological innovation and the 2010 National Communication Award of
the Catalan Government in the telecommunications category. A team of
Fractus inventors is a finalist for the European Inventor Award 2014;
award winners are to be announced in June 2014.